


Something You Need to Know

by Cuttlefish



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, F/F, Feels, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-01
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-07-28 13:45:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7642915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cuttlefish/pseuds/Cuttlefish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They meet briefly in class, and it's little more than an annoyance.  Unfortunately, that's not the last time they get annoyed.  Fortunately, it won't take long for that annoyance to turn into something else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. where we tent, for our safety

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone! This is my first fanfiction in a very, very long time. I wanted to practice my writing in a fun way, and after seeing so much development for Peridot and Lapis (and being a shameless Lapidot shipper), I thought it'd be really fun to explore their characters more in a fun little college AU. I have a few chapters done already, but this is a work in progress. Constructive criticism is most appreciated, and I hope you all like it!

Peridot’s eyes widened and she leaned forward on her bed, fully enraptured by the glowing screen in front of her.  She brushed a strand of blonde hair away from her face, not taking her gaze off of the laptop as the scene in her anime drew to a close.  She mouthed the words on-screen, face morphing into an enormous grin as the protagonist, at long last, faced his fears head-on.

“ _ Peridot!”  _  She jumped when she heard her name shouted, followed by three solid thumps on the door.  “Wear headphones or something!  I don’t care about your stupid cartoon!”

In a heartbeat, the fascination and childlike joy vanished from her face, leaving behind an irritated scowl.

“Fine,” she said, pausing the show on her computer.  She rose from her bed and took a look around her tiny room.  It was fairly clean today - or, at least, the floor was clear.  Her only window cast a stream of light on her desk.  Underneath, where a chair might have once fit, lay broken monitors, ancient floppy disks, USB drives, frayed cables and wires, unwhole keyboards, and old hard drives wearing fuzzy coats of dust.  Shunted off to the side was a small computer chassis; atop the desk sat its monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

She scanned the mess.  Eyes settling on her goal, she strode to where a pair of large headphones lie.  They sometimes hurt her ears, but drowning out Jasper’s shouts and avoiding her ire were more than enough reason to put them on.

Leaping into her bed, she turned her gaze to her alarm clock - 3:24 p.m.  She sighed, abandoning the headphones on the bed and closing her laptop, stuffing it into her backpack.  After a single glance into the mirror - hair messy yet manageable, glasses on straight, minimal bags under her eyes - she flung her door open and began to leave the room.  She stumbled on a wire on her way out.  Maybe the floor wasn't  _that_ clear.

Their shared living room was small - barely large enough to  _ also  _ fit the kitchen appliances that crowded the far corner.  Right now, the room was filled with sound.  The television murmured as Jasper watched, noisily scarfing down a burger with one hand, the other slung casually over the back of the couch.  The air conditioning, the low hum of the refrigerator.  The sound of a running shower.

Peridot paused as she saw a blouse - pink and lacy - lying on the armchair of the couch.  She glanced quickly to Jasper, who caught her eye and gave her a toothy, fierce grin.  Peridot’s face twisted into an involuntary grimace before awkwardly straightening her shirt and moving for the door.

“Later, wonder nerd,” Jasper said, giving Peridot a flippant wave of her hand.  

“Mm,” Peridot replied as she left the room and entered the hall, locking the door behind her.

The hall vibrated with energy as students talked, laughed, told stories to each other through welcoming open doors.  Peridot brushed past it all, eyes forward and gait brisk.  Trotting down the stairs, she finally reached the front door.

The mild weather and orange trees greeted her as she pushed it open and began to walk, crunching leaves beneath her.  Class started in four minutes now, although she wasn’t worried - one thing she  _ did _ enjoy about her dorm was its proximity to the lecture halls, which meant that she would always arrive on time to her classes, even under extenuating circumstances.  

When she arrived at the lecture hall, she wasted no time in claiming her usual seat in the second row.  She glanced at the clock on the wall.  3:28.  Typically she would arrive much earlier, but this was an  _ elective  _ class.  Art History.  Nothing she really  _ needed  _ for her major - it was just filler, really, a four-credit boost amongst her  _ real  _ classes.  It was only a week into the new semester, but she couldn’t imagine that it would be difficult to pass.  She leaned back into her seat as the professor arrived, prepared for an easy, if a bit tedious, lecture.

Twenty minutes passed without event.  Peridot dutifully took notes on her laptop, occasionally glancing up at an example projected on the screen in front of the hall.

_ Marcus Aurelius,  _ she typed next to an image of an ancient bust carved in stone.   _ Born in - _ \- her notes (and her thoughts) were suddenly interrupted by the sound of an opening door.

Peridot scowled as a familiar figure walked casually in front of the class, holding a styrofoam cup of coffee.  A shock of short blue hair framed her face, which sported an apathetic frown and dark, tired eyes.  She looked as though she had barely taken her time getting dressed; she wore a loose blue tank top, dark baggy sweatpants, and bright orange flip flops.  Did she just wear the first things she saw in her closet?  Or had she slept in those?

She took her time in ambling to the nearest seat - one ahead of Peridot, to her left - and unceremoniously sitting down, resting her coffee on the small desk.

The professor was unimpressed.

“Lazuli, isn’t it?” she asked, stony face turning to the late student.  “You were late last time, too.  It was the first class, so I was lenient, but don’t walk into my lecture twenty minutes late again.  That goes for everyone!” she said, raising her voice to the rest of the lecture.  “Now let’s get back on track.”

Peridot missed the next few points Professor Miller made, eyes still on the blue-haired student in front of her.  She had been mildly irritated when she’d interrupted the  _ first  _ lecture by showing up fifteen minutes late _ ,  _ but this was even worse!  She wasn’t even  _ taking notes _ \- just staring blankly at the professor, hand supporting her head while the other lazily lifted the coffee to her lips every few moments.  When she finished the cup, she began to doodle on it.  Why had she even shown up at all?

The rest of the lecture went by relatively quickly, and soon the hall was emptying out.  Peridot tucked her laptop neatly back into her bag and stood from the desk, eyeing “Lazuli”, who seemed to have fallen asleep in the last several minutes of lecture.  She huffed, stepping in front of her desk and rapping it with her knuckles.

Lazuli slowly glanced up at Peridot, and Peridot almost shrank back from the intensity of her gaze.  Instead, she cleared her throat after a silent moment and spoke.

“C-class is over,” she said, fumbling a bit but then regaining the strength in her voice.  “It ends at 4:30.  But you’d know that if you were on time,” she said, unable to stop herself from mumbling the last sentence with a note of irritation.  She glanced nervously at Lazuli’s eyes and then back to the bridge of her nose, unable to maintain contact for long.

Lazuli trailed her eyes quickly up and down Peridot, as though sizing her up.  She stared for a few moments, expression indescribable.  Then - 

“Your shirt’s inside out.”

Peridot looked down immediately, brows furrowing and cheeks burning.  Her shirt was just as she’d put it on; loose, black, and  _ rightside in. _

“It is  _ not _ -” she began indignantly, lifting her head, only to find that Lazuli was already halfway across the room, heading for the exit.


	2. seeds of light turn to dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's garbage time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, everyone! :)

“ _Hey!_ ”

Peridot’s shout echoed across the room.  Lazuli steadfastly ignored the exclamation, opening the door to the hall and promptly stepping out.  Peridot jogged a bit to catch up, face heated and ire rising, about to give this person a _piece of her mind._ She wasn’t even looking back at her!

Peridot had _almost_ caught up when Lazuli made a sharp turn into another hall.  Peridot rounded the corner only to see a gaggle of students wandering to their next class, Lazuli nowhere in sight.  She stretched her neck out to see where she had gone, but the halls soon cleared, leaving no trace of her to be seen.

She heaved a sigh.  She glanced around, seeing stragglers in the hall eyeing her with strange looks; she flinched, scanning the hall and settling on a different purpose.  She made her way to the water fountain and thought that maybe chasing Lazuli wasn’t really worth the effort in the first place.  Peridot took a deep sip of the cold water and closed her eyes, allowing normalcy to settle back in.

“ _Yo!_ Peri!”

Well, almost.

Peridot turned around to see a short girl with impossibly long, messy hair and a scruffy appearance from her oversized tank top to her shredded jeans.  The girl waved at her before scuttling across the hall, giving Peridot a mischievous grin.

“Hey, Amethyst,” Peridot said, a small smile growing on her face.  They began to walk down the hall together at a comfortable pace, not set on going anywhere in particular.  “What are you doing?”

“ _Uh,_ pretty much nothing,” Amethyst replied, stretching her arms over her head.  She yawned.  “What about you?  You looked kinda… miffed,” she said, the grin never receding.

Peridot huffed, her frown returning.  “Someone was late _again,_ and ruined my train of thought!” she exclaimed, raising her arms for added effect.  “I tried to talk to her after class, but she completely ignored me!”

Amethyst gave a quiet chuckle at Peridot’s theatrics and shoved her hands casually into her pockets as they exited the building and were enveloped by the cool autumn air.  “Sounds like she got your goat,” she teased.

Peridot rolled her eyes and kicked at a rock on the ground, sending it skipping along the pavement before rolling to a stop in front of a small building.  “Actually,” she said, looking over to Amethyst, “you might know her!”

“Why would _I_ know her?” Amethyst complained.

“You know everyone!  At least _twenty_ times the amount of people I do.”

“ _Thaaat’s_ not sayin’ much, broski.”

Peridot scowled, but let the snarky comment slide.  “She had blue hair, blue eyes, too.  Sort of tall, very tan…  Last name ‘Lazuli’.”

“Oh!  Uh... “  Amethyst slowed her pace to a crawl, lost in thought.  “Sounds like Lapis, I guess.  Don’t really know her, though.  She just kinda hangs around sometimes.”

“Well… she’s annoying,” Peridot replied, brows knitting together.  The fact that “Lapis” was still making her angry even after the end of class caused a small growl to escape her mouth, and her pace to pick up considerably.  Amethyst trotted to catch up.

“Aw, come on, Peri,” she whined.  “Hey - wanna go to the dump?!”  Amethyst’s tone brightened immediately, grin reforming on her face as she leapt in front of Peridot, preventing her from walking further.  “Come _on_ , we haven’t done that in _forever._ ”

“We did that last week,” Peridot said, irritation changing into amusement.  Regardless, she took a sharp right turn into a small alley formed by the two engineering buildings of campus, and Amethyst let out a little cheer before following.

The alley wasn’t exactly hidden, but it wasn’t something people really took notice of, either.  The buildings cast shadows on it, bathing the uneven ground and rough brick walls in darkness.  Several pathways snaked from the alley, leading to dead ends and old, unused doors.  The two strode on with confidence, turning corners with ease, allowing their memories to guide them to the right place.

At long last, they found themselves in a small clearing paved with concrete, sandwiched between two small labs.  The sun cast hazy light that filtered down into the space, highlighting the worn-down walls covered in graffiti, the dust particles floating in the air, the paint cans strewn along the ground, the stillness that permeated the area.

At the far end were several enormous green bins.  Dumpsters, each for a different type of waste or recyclable - paper, cardboard, plastics, equipment, “miscellaneous” - the things no one wanted.  The things people forgot.

“Aw _yea-uh!_ ” Amethyst cried as she grabbed a still-wrapped granola bar resting at the top of one of the dumpsters.  She unwrapped it and began to tear into it, grinning at Peridot.  “Ish not even shtale!”

“Amethyst… that’s disgusting,” Peridot said, turning her attention from her friend to the smallest dumpster in the corner.  She grinned, peering into it for a few moments before hauling her small frame into it entirely, a small, contented sigh emanating from her.  After a few moments of exaltation, she allowed herself to rummage through the mess.

Motherboards - there were always motherboards in these things, she thought to herself, and none of them would likely ever work again.  She took one in her grasp anyway, gently dragging her thumb along the path of its circuits while she continued looking.

She pushed a few tiny fans out of her way (but not before giving them a small spin with her hand).  She carefully untangled the cord of a mouse from a worn ribbon cable, setting it aside.  Several small, gray rectangles poked out from the mess, and she smiled, digging them out, only to be met with disappointment.   _These hard drives are too damaged,_ she thought, disengaging them from the mess to explore the dump further.

“Find anything good?”  Amethyst poked her head over the dumpster Peridot sat in, half of the granola bar still sticking out of her mouth.

“Hmm,” Peridot replied, carefully placing several floppy disks on the floor.  Finally, she gripped the edge of the dumpster, pulling herself out and shaking out her hair.  “Not really,” she admitted.  “Just a couple floppies, but they never have anything interesting.”

“Ha!  Well, check out what I got!”  Amethyst lifted her hand, revealing several bouncy balls tucked firmly in her grasp.  Without warning, she let all of them go at once, cackling as they sprung off the hard ground and up again.

Peridot giggled, catching one in her hand.  Amethyst collected the others, giving her one of her _looks._ Peridot cocked her head, confusion spreading on her face.

“Let’s throw these from the top floor of my dorm!” Amethyst shouted, dashing out of the alley.

“Hey!” Peridot exclaimed, gripping her floppy disks and chasing after her, laughing in the moment.

  
Neither of them noticed the gaze following them from the shadows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I, too, like to stroke motherboards, Peri.


	3. smoke etches new lines on paper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, hooray! I had written the first half of this days ago, but finally got around to finishing it. Updates will roll out a tiny bit more slowly from now on, but should still be pretty consistent. Thanks for reading!

They spent several minutes at the top of the stairs.  Amethyst dropped the balls one by one and they watched them grow smaller as they descended to the ground floor, only to bounce several stories back up.  When a passerby jumped at the sudden appearance of a bouncy ball plummeting next to them, Amethyst guffawed loudly and Peridot gave a nervous giggle, shying away from prying eyes.

“Hey, Peri, I’m gonna go hang with the crew,” Amethyst said after half an hour of bouncy shenanigans.  “Wanna come?”  She looked expectantly up at Peridot, a shadow of a grin on her face.

“Erm… maybe later,” Peridot said.  Amethyst shrugged, looking none too crestfallen.

“Yeh, yeh,” she said, breaking away from Peridot to head down the hall.  “You always say that.  One day I’m gonna make you, I swear!”  With that, and a wave of her hand, Amethyst disappeared into the dorm hall to regroup with her main circle.

Peridot descended the stairs, taking her time.  She wanted to go back to the dumpsters, she thought; she had only taken two of the three floppy disks, after all, and maybe someone had placed something else in the dumpster while they were gone.  She opened the front door to be confronted with the dim glow of evening, and took the shortest path there.

The dumpster clearing was much darker now that the sun had begun to set, but Peridot could still see clearly, for now.  She strode towards the tech bin when she paused - something was there that hadn’t been before.

It wasn’t equipment.  The front of the dumpster was decorated now, sporting deep blues and shadowy grays of spray paint.  A depiction of a bluebird sat in the lower corner, wings fallen at its side and head tilted mournfully up.  Above were silhouettes of birds, wings stretched and beaks agape in song, seeming very far away from the lonely bluebird in the corner, unable to join them.

Peridot stared at the graffiti art, feeling a hollow din in her chest.  Although the silhouettes were nothing but dark shadows, the lone bird stood out painfully clear, wings awkwardly bent at its sides, eyes staring longingly upwards, reflecting the flock crowding the lonely art’s sky.  Its plumage was a deep, awe-striking blue.

Typically Peridot didn’t mind the graffiti on the walls very carefully, but she turned her head to the wall, curiosity leading her to carefully scan it, hoping for more.  Tags, jokes, caricatures… reds, yellows, greens, even  _ blues _ , but not the blue on the dumpster.  At least, not at first.  

Careful searching led her to find small pieces in the corners, in between other works, etched in the same style or color, or both.  A tiny house with a single window and chimney.  Several water droplets reflecting the art next to them.  A psychedelic planet, an anthropomorphic tree with roots as its legs.  Another bluebird.

“Hm,” she muttered to herself as she allowed herself to gaze at the other art, too, from the different artists.  Some were funny, some were strange, all were  _ interesting,  _ especially the artist in blue.  She tore her gaze from the wall, vowing to look at it more, before scooping up the forgotten floppy disk from the bottom of the dumpster and heading home.

*

A week and some days later, and the weekend was rolling around again.

Peridot slowly opened her eyes, squinting at the late morning sun that filtered through her blinds.  She rolled over, pulling her covers with her so that if anyone were to walk in, they’d only see a lump on the bed, topped by short, messy blond hair.

After accepting that she wasn’t falling back asleep any time soon, she reached her arm out from the comfort of her bed and grabbed her glasses, sliding them on her face.  She looked at her clock.  11:23 a.m.  That wasn’t so bad, considering.

She stood from her bed and grumbled as she recalled her trouble getting to sleep that night.  Too many noises… it was Jasper and one of her “guests”.  Again.  She changed into loose jeans and a flannel, lamenting the paper-thin qualities of the walls.

She touched the window with the tips of her fingers, feeling the cool air on the other side.  A small smile appearing on her face, she slung her bag over her shoulder and left the building, heading for the cafeteria.

Half an hour passed as Peridot sat at a table in the corner by a window, slowly eating her late breakfast while  _ tikka-takka-tik- _ typing away at her laptop.  Diligent, precise typing slowly transformed, however, into error-riddled bashing as a bug in her code refused to remove itself, preventing her from making any progress.

“ _ Segfault, _ ” she growled, word ripping from her throat like a feral animal, “ _ segfault,  _ I’ll show  _ you _ a  _ segfault _ you  _ clod _ !”

She did not.

She pushed her laptop away from her, groaning in despair and resting her head on the cool wooden table.  “ _ Just do what I want you to,” _ she mumbled into the hard surface, childishly pounding a fist on the table.  She lifted her head to look about the dining hall, eyes adjusting to the sight of the physical world as opposed to a computer screen.  The area was mostly empty, except…

She saw a mess of blue hair atop a slim, tall figure a few feet from where she was sitting.  The girl was faced away from her, but she knew already who it was.  Her frown deepened slightly at the sight of the student who had recently stopped coming to Art History altogether.  

_ At least she’s not still late every day,  _ Peridot thought.

Lapis was wearing dark sweatpants and an oversized gray hoodie on the breezy autumn day.  Peridot was about to look back to her code when she saw a splash of color on Lapis’s hoodie, just on the edge of her sleeve.  It was paint - she could tell from the way it stained the fabric.  Blue spray paint…?

Peridot shot up, hitting her knee on the edge of the table as she did.  “ _ Ow…”  _ she muttered, rubbing her kneecap before looking back at the other student.  She had sat, alone, at a small wooden table at the edge of the cafeteria, next to a window.

“Hey!” Peridot exclaimed, scrambling over to Lapis’s table.  “Lazuli?  I - uh…” She trailed off, startled by the shocked face that turned to her.  Once again, dark blue eyes stared into Peridot’s own, accentuated by deep under-eye circles and down-turned eyebrows that hinted to Peridot that she was not entirely welcome.

Any surprise that was on Lapis’s face disappeared moments after she saw Peridot, morphing to annoyance.  “Oh,” she said, deadpan.  “It’s you.”

“Heh, uh, yeah, it’s me!” Peridot said awkwardly, their previous (and only) interaction rudely intruding into her mind.  “I, uh, saw your sleeve,” she said.  Fumbling for words, she merely pointed at it - Lapis’s brows furrowed, and she drew back a bit from Peridot’s finger.  “I mean, the paint.  Did - do you paint?”

“I might,” Lapis said, oddly eyeing Peridot out of the corner of her eye.  “Why?  Wanna scold me about it?”

“I didn’t - !”  Peridot’s cheeks began to color red as she balled her hands into fists, gaze transforming into a glare.  “I’m trying to be nice!  Besides,  _ you’re  _ the one who  _ lied _ to me!”

“Oh, no,” Lapis said, dripping apathy from the words.  Without another look at Peridot, she looked down at her coffee and began to sip from it, acting as though the other student weren’t there.

Peridot grit her teeth.  “I’m not done,” she said to deaf ears.  “At least answer my question!”

Lapis took her time in sipping her coffee, leisurely stealing glances out the window as she did.  Eventually,  _ finally,  _ she gingerly placed her cup back on the table and looked Peridot in the eye.

“Yeah,” she said.  “I paint.”  She quirked a brow at her then, as if daring her, challenging her -  _ ‘and?’  _ her face said.   _ ‘So what?’ _

Peridot didn’t rise to the challenge.  “Hm… okay,” she said, nodding abruptly.  Lapis’s brows fell flat.  Peridot suddenly felt a strange pressure overcome her, and she realized  _ what  _ she was doing, just up and bursting out like that - so she nodded once more, satisfied with Lapis’s answer (for now), and mumbled an awkward goodbye before striding back to her table, taking her things, and leaving the cafeteria. 

  
Lapis stared for a moment, and then returned to her coffee.


	4. and faded fences fold from rust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot meets Amethyst's other friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! Sorry for taking such a long time to update. <3 I'm determined to finish this throughout the end, though, so keep tuned! Feel free to check out [my (new) Tumblr](flannelhind.tumblr.com) if you like as well. As always, thanks for reading!

She began to see things that she hadn’t taken notice of before, now - small scrawlings in the walls of the hallway when she went to class, splashes of color here and there on the sides of old buildings, even sidewalk chalk art that was smudged with footsteps and time.  Were they always there?  Did so many students want to make an impression?

She sat on her bed, paper stacked neatly and clipped onto her clipboard, pencil in hand.  She grasped it too tightly as she stared down at the blank pages.  Her gaze switched to the Art History textbook beside her, open to page 142, which showed a picture of an old vase adorned with interpretations of animals.   _ Painted Beaker from Susa.   _ Also, what Peridot was supposed to be sketching.

Instead, she drew a single line.  She tilted her head to the left.  To the right.  Turned the paper upside down.  Setting it down right-side-up again, she carefully gripped her pencil and made another mark on the paper, a flick of her wrist adding another line perpendicular to the previous one.  It was wobbly.

“ _ Rgh!”  _ she growled, wasting no time in crumpling the paper and tossing it across the room where it bounced off a small pile of broken speakers and joined a collection of  _ more  _ crumpled papers on the ground.  Flustered and more than a little bit irritated, she pulled out a clean sheet and resigned herself to simply copying the visage of the vase on the book beside her.

The work went by quickly; she mechanically imitated the curved lines and shadows of the object with ease, hands making jerky movements to solidify the outlines.  She scanned the vase every other second, ensuring that her copy was precise, was accurate, down to the letter.

Copying down something concrete was method - it was simple, calculating.  The pencil ground down into the page as she filled in the animal patterns around the rim.  Yes, copying [scanning, printing] was easy, but pulling something from her mind?  Something that didn't have form, something that was merely an abstract idea, a mess of neurons?   _ Impossible!   _ Where would she even begin?

_ Painted Beaker from Susa  _ lay finished on the paper.  She unclipped it from her board and slid it carefully into a yellow folder (“Art History”) on the small table next to her bed.  Suddenly, the cellphone that lie next to the folder emitted a sharp  _ ping! _ , causing Peridot to swipe it up and unlock it, eyes focusing on the screen.

**Amethyst** 9:21 a.m.

yooooooooooooooooooooooooo p-dot what’s goin on

A ghost of a smirk brightened Peridot’s face as she lay comfortably on her bed, typing out a response.

**Me** 9:21 a.m.

not much.  finished some homework.  you?

**Amethyst** 9:22 a.m.

nerrrrddd

i was gonna get some grub, u want in?

Peridot stared at the ceiling for a few seconds; her stomach rumbled slightly.   _ I guess I could go for some breakfast.   _ When she looked back down at her phone, Amethyst had sent several more texts.

**Amethyst** 9:22 a.m.

come onnnn u know u wanna

the dining hall still has breakfaaasttt

mayb this will b the day u discover y kids luv the taste of CINNAMON TOAST CRUNCH

She barked a laugh, despite herself, and answered.

**Me** 9:23 a.m.

fine 

i’ll meet you there in ten minutes.

It didn’t take long to change out of her pajamas and pull a blue jumper over herself, paired with dark blue jeans and her usual sneakers.  She glimpsed herself in the mirror and detangled her hair the best she could before shoving her phone into her pocket and leaving the room.

Jasper’s raucous, abrasive laughter startled her and she jumped a bit before realizing that the large athlete was in her own room, rather than the shared living space.  Grumbling, Peridot left and began to make her way to the dining hall.

The large room was half-empty, and she could hear murmurs of conversation spill over tables and booths.  She made a bee-line for the cereals - Amethyst’s remark had made her crave some Lucky Charms, and she helped herself to a generous portion.

She grabbed a spoon and looked around.  Before long, she heard a scratchy voice call out to her - “Hey!  Peri!”

Peridot turned towards the voice and took a single step forward before freezing.  Amethyst sat at a small round table, a large portion of eggs and hash browns before her, but she wasn’t alone.  Beside her sat two others.  

To her right was a tall, thin student with pale skin and short strawberry-blonde hair.  She sat in her chair with perfect posture, head held high, hands folded before her, an air of elegance and perhaps a bit of disdain radiating from her person.  Her large blue eyes were trained on the student sitting opposite to her, seeming to be waiting for a reaction.

Peridot wasn’t sure that the reaction would come, given the other student’s stoic, indiscernible face.  She was tall, dark, and  _ large _ with her defined muscles clearly visible.  She wore her hair up in a large afro, something that Peridot would think might be distracting, but didn’t detract from the other student’s look at all.  In fact, it enhanced it; she exuded power, confidence, comfort.  Large sunglasses hung from the front of her shirt.

“Get over here!”  Amethyst’s voice cut through Peridot’s thoughts and she looked to her friend, who was dwarfed in comparison to the company she kept in every way.  “You gotta meet the crew!”

Peridot awkwardly shuffled forward, eyes looking everywhere except the eyes of Amethyst’s companions.

“A - aha - Amethyst, hey,” she said, drawing out a chair with an ear-splitting  _ scratch  _ on the ground and bumping her knee on the table before finally sitting.   _ Damnit.   _ She scooted her chair in and placed her cereal on the table, shooting a burning glare at Amethyst for  _ so blatantly tricking  _ her like this.

“Guys, this is Peridot,” Amethyst said with a grin.  “And Peri, this is Pearl - “ with a gesture to the student to the right - “and Garnet,” she said, gesturing to the tall, imposing student.

“Oh!  Hello,” Pearl said, a small yet amiable smile appearing on her face.  “Amethyst has told us about you.  Although,” she said, suddenly frowning, “I’m not sure how accurate she’s been?”  Amethyst let out a small ‘heh’ and blushed.

“I told ‘em you were an alien,” she said, grinning at Peridot.  Peridot massaged her temple with her forehead.  “Which you kinda are -  _ oh,  _ or maybe a robot!”

“Amethyst.”  A new voice.  Peridot looked over to Garnet, who had finally spoken.  Her voice was deep and rich, and carried a certain weight that was unable to be ignored.  “You’re embarrassing our guest.”  She turned to look Peridot in the eye, and with a start, Peridot realized that Garnet’s eyes were heterochromatic - one brown and one a deep blue.

“It’s nice to meet you,” she said, extending a hand.  Peridot gingerly took it, not ready for the firm handshake that followed.

“Aw, c’mon Garnet, I’m just messin’ around,” Amethyst said, winking at Peridot.  Peridot allowed herself to smile - Amethyst’s friends weren’t as hard to get along with as she had initially thought (although they  _ were  _ just as intimidating).

“So, Peridot,” Pearl said, “what’s your major?”

Pleasant conversation followed until well into the morning.  Pearl (astrophysics and aerospace engineering) didn’t seem to eat much, while Peridot easily devoured several more bowls of cereal.  Garnet (criminal justice) didn’t seem to be much of a conversationalist, but her rare interjections fit perfectly in the balance of Pearl’s apparently chatty nature and Amethyst’s goofy style, leaving Peridot solidly in the middle.  She found that she didn’t mind.

“Lighten up, P - it’ll be awesome!”  Amethyst was saying when Peridot zoned back into the conversation.

“I don’t know,” Pearl said, eyebrows quirked.  “I don’t know if Steven needs to be playing that many computer games… I don’t know if  _ you  _ need to be, either,” she finished, pointedly staring at the other student.

“ _ Ugh _ ,” Amethyst said, turning to Peridot.  “What do you think, Peri?  League can be like, educational and stuff.  I need more people to play with!  This can be quality bonding time!”

Peridot wasn’t surprised that Pearl knew Steven - Pearl and Garnet had been friends with Amethyst since her freshman year.  Peridot only met her just last semester and even she knew Steven, the overly-friendly high schooler who used to be Amethyst’s neighbor until she moved to college.  Luckily for them both, the college wasn’t far from his own school, and so he’d pay her a visit every so often.  Occasionally that would include Peridot; she learned of Steven’s nature within minutes of meeting him, and becoming friends was nearly unavoidable.

She blushed momentarily, chagrined at how long it’d been since she’d seen him.  With her summer stuffed with extra classes and a dull job at the technical center, she hadn’t had much time for… friends.  She could barely handle friends when she  _ wasn’t _ busy, and Amethyst and Steven were not exactly low-energy people.

“He’s a sophomore now, right?” she asked.  “I started playing around then… he should be fine.  He studies hard,” she said with a grin.

“That  _ is _ true!” Pearl exclaimed.  “Well, alright… but make sure his homework’s been done first.  And yours too, come to think of it!” she said, waving a finger at Amethyst, who just gave her a sheepish grin.  Garnet looked out the window, eyes narrowing mysteriously for a moment before looking back at the others.

“It’s time,” Garnet said suddenly, pointing to the clock.  A startled “oh!” was drawn out from Pearl before she rapidly collected her things, tugging Amethyst by the sleeve.

“We don’t want to be late!” she said, urging Amethyst forward and taking long strides ahead.  The latter merely shrugged at Peridot - “can’t skip this one or Pearl gets all  _ worked up _ about it” - and jogged ahead, catching up to the taller student.

Peridot was left with Garnet.  She looked at her timidly as she stood from her seat before doing so herself.  Garnet took her sunglasses from her shirt and put them on before beckoning to Peridot and beginning to walk.

“Amethyst told us about your new friend.” she said as they left the building.  Peridot cringed.

“Er - friend’s not really - I mean…”

“It’s good to connect with people different from you,” she continued smoothly, ignoring Peridot’s stammering.  “It helps you understand them.”

“I… I guess,” Peridot said, at a loss.  Was that the right thing to say?  Probably not…

“What, uh… what brought that up?” Peridot asked, desperate not to let the conversation fade into nothingness just yet.  Garnet gave a small smile - the first Peridot had seen all day from her - and gestured to their right.

“I saw her,” she said simply.  

Peridot looked over.  Lapis was walking slowly along the sidewalk, overlarge hoodie hiding her form and hands, which were stuffed into grey pockets. Her face held no expression.  Peridot frowned.

“You should talk to her,” Garnet said.  “She might appreciate the company.”  A thunderous slap on the back, jolting Peridot forward, accentuated Garnet’s words before she silently walked away.  

Peridot took a moment to relax; she’d been stiff in the presence of the intimidatingly confident student, and now that she was out of sight, she could take a moment.  Still… she looked up at Lapis.  She was walking away now, taking a curious turn into a narrow alley to the right, devoid of students.  Peridot looked back - no sign of Garnet - looked left - no one was watching - and silently walked after her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peridot's major is Computer Science, and Amethyst's is Communications.


End file.
